fbpx

​Troy Silva - Rijo Athletics

Competitive Practice: Why Drills Are Overrated and The Practice Methods That Get The Best Results

Favorite Quote: "It's not a fashion show it's a battle!  Get off of the runway and compete!"

Troy is a former professional and collegiate baseball player, and currently a coach with one of the top academies in the Northwest.  Troy works with many collegiate and professional hitters and is also the author of the Amazon best seller: 9 Innings of Hitting and has one of the largest social media followings on Twitter.  

TWITTER

Summary and Action Plan below

SESSION SUMMARY

The best way to play better in games is to challenge yourself more in practice.

The drills that are the hardest for a kid present the biggest opportunity for them to improve.  Don't avoid it just because it's tough!  Conquer it.  Great drills are ones with some sort of competition or something that puts a kid under some stress.

The exception to focusing on hard drills/practice is with really young players where allowing them to smash will increase their confidence in themselves.

One of the biggest misconceptions ----> everyone has to get their foot down early.  You can't swing with your foot in the air, the foot will get down.

Don’t let the ball travel - make contact on the front side of your body.

Lunging with front leg is ok. Keep torso back. Key on hips... if hips go backward you’re beat, if they go down, you can stride longer and still hit.

Drills are overrated.   They make coaches look good. Do the drill, get the feel, and get back to hittin!  Troy had a player go off to college, come home and say that he's struggling hitting the curveball.  Troy asked, "How many curveballs are you hitting each day?"  And he said, "zero".  Well then!  You can't get better at hitting fastballs, curveballs, anything unless you are seeing them on a regular basis.  Don't expect a special drill to save you, just get to hitting and figure it out!

Troy shares his faith on social media.  Troy wants to walk out his faith and be a good example. God has a plan for Troy’s life and He has a plan for yours.

Trust that all is well. Don’t add in the anxiety of “what if”. Everything will be just fine.


ACTION PLAN


Spend more time taking competitive batting practice.  If you are playing at a level where kids are throwing curve balls....then practice hitting curveballs on occassion!

Take more live batting practice.  Face someone who is trying to strike you out, whether it is on the diamond or playing wiffle ball with Mom.

The only way to play better in games is to challenge yourself and do the difficult drills/competitions in practice.

Live BP is ideal.  One where if you swing and hit it, you stay in.  Let a guy see 10+ pitches from a pitcher.  He can hit all 10 or zero, but let him stay in there and PRACTICE what he'll need to do in a game.  We get so cute with all of our one handed drills and such - and those have their time and place - but if you want to get better at hitting off of pitchers.......GO HIT OFF OF SOME PITCHERS!


Powered By MemberMouse WooCommerce Plus Integration